Environmental Response to Governor's Podcast

1. Response to Governor's Podcast, 1/29/07.
2. Governor's Podcast, 1/26/07.

Bob La Trémouille reports:

Governor Patrick has started a weekly series of podcasts. Below is my response to this week's podcast left in the appropriate manner and the text of the podcast.

1. Response to Governor's Podcast, 1/29/07.

Dear Governor Patrick:

I appreciate your comments in your blog which give the impression of environmental concern. You also sound like you are concerned about the scarce resources of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

You have also spoken about increasing volunteerism.

An excellent example of very major environmental and volunteerism problems is the Department of Conservation and Resources, formerly the Metropolitan District Commission.

The DCR / MDC took a poll a few years ago. The poll found that most people did not think that the Charles River needs improvements. We have repeatedly heard about the problem the DCR / MDC has with scarce resources.

So the DCR / MDC is aggressively destroying the environment of the Charles River for supposed “improvements” which most people said are not necessary. The “improvements” are highly destructive to the environment and repeatedly violate the DCR / MDC’s publicly stated goals.

The “improvements” do, however, make money for contractors. The fact that the contractors could make money from the MDC / DCR in parts of the system which need improvement seems to be irrelevant.

Central to the “improvements” which are anything but are the DCR / MDC’s “volunteers.” Highly visible on the Charles River have been the “Charles River Conservancy” and Boston University. These entities certainly look like they are used for things the DCR / MDC does not dare to do on their own. Clearly both have quite destructive of the environment and the resources of the DCR / MDC.

The DCR / MDC seems to be driven to destroy all signs of living beings on the Charles River and seems determined to destroy as much trees, animal habitat and wetlands as they can get away with.

The ongoing attacks on the Cambridge side of the Charles River are an excellent example.

One of the supposedly highest goals of the DCR / MDC is swimming in the Charles River.

In September 2004, the DCR / MDC conducted a swim in at Magazine Beach as a media event to emphasize this goal. One of the most visible swimmers was the head of the Charles River Conservancy.

This project and a related project in September 2004 was a direct attack on the Commonwealth’s most valuable tourist attraction on the Cambridge side of the Charles River, the Charles River White Geese. These 25 year residents gather fans from miles around because of their beauty, their gregariousness and their natural existence. They have been major favorites with commuters.

In September 2004, the DCR / MDC and the City of Cambridge proceeded to starve the Charles River White Geese by walling off their food of 25 years from access from the Charles River at the Hyatt Regency and Magazine Beach.

When the Boston Globe did a story on the starvation at Magazine Beach, they showed these beautiful animals being fed by friends with a massive earth remover in the background destroying their access to food.

Next to this photo, the Boston Globe quoted the DCR / MDC manager, Richard Corsi as saying he had no intent to “harm” the Charles River White Geese, repeating the claims of the DCR / MDC for more than four years at that time.

Mr. Corse has since elaborated on his statement. In Mr. Corsi’s world, “harming” does not include starving.

The project destroyed the wetlands at Magazine Beach to put in a wall of “native” bushes which promptly died because these supposedly “native” bushes have no business on the Charles River. After repeated plantings the non-native “native” bushes finally seem to be taking, but for what purpose?

Why to wall off the Charles River from Magazine Beach and thus preventing use of Magazine Beach for swimming, exactly the opposite of the stated goals praised by the media event.

A sample swim last year was called off because of algae bloom in the Charles River.

The DCR / MDC claims to be converting the Charles River to water related uses. Toward that purpose, the DCR / MDC is rebuilding softball fields on the Charles River. Ebersol Fields on the Boston side near Mass. General was upgraded as part of the DCR / MDC’s emphasis on water related facilities. As part of the “upgrading,” poisons were installed at Ebersol Fields, but the poisons were not strong enough. So the DCR / MDC added even more powerful poisons, a poison which included in its instructions a warning against use near water.

THE DAY AFTER THE MORE POWERFUL POISONS were used at Ebersol Fields, the Charles River was dead from the harbor to the Mass. Ave. Bridge with the algae outbreak which prevented the swimming.

The next part of the DCR / MDC’s emphasis on water-related activities on the Charles River is further “improvements” to the softball fields at Magazine Beach. These softball fields have been walled off from the Charles River by the wall of non-native “native” bushes I mentioned above.

Plans are to truck away all the dirt at Magazine Beach and to replace the dirt with dirt, sprinklers and poisons. The sprinklers are intended to replace the wetlands which were destroyed along with animal habitat to put in the non-native “native” wall of bushes. Currently, Magazine Beach does not need poisons in the playing fields. Most people cannot even see the “need” to dig up the playing fields.

The White Geese and other free animals used to have access to all of Magazine Beach. For awhile in 2006, they had access to a tiny part of Magazine Beach. Trucking away the soil will clearly deny all food at Magazine Beach to free animals. This is for a project that makes no sense to most people.

And if the poisons needed as a result of the “improvements” do not work? Well, we can expect the more powerful poisons, which certainly look like they destroyed the Charles River when used before.

This is part of a package in which the Charles River Conservancy, as agent for the DCR / MDC has poisoned every goose egg they could get away with on the first ten miles of the Charles River for the past four years.

This is part of a package in which the Charles River Conservancy has been aggressively destroying as much native vegetation as it can get away with. The CRC has problems with a river looking like a river. They want the Charles River to look like a college campus.

I have seen heron on the Charles River, protected by vegetation which the CRC and DCR / MDC routinely destroy. I know of resident water fowl whose lairs are being destroyed by this aggressive destruction.

The first attacks on the Charles River were undertaken by Boston University on behalf of the DCR / MDC in October 1999 as part of an apparently illegal agreement. Boston University destroyed the nesting area of the DCR / MDC in October 1999. They started the destruction before a meeting on the subject scheduled in front of the Cambridge Conservation Commission. BU then denied doing the work until they were condemned for it by the Cambridge Conservation Commission. As part of their withdrawal of their denials, BU blamed their president’s secretary.

From then until pretty much the present day, the DCR / MDC has denied any intent to “harm” the Charles River White Geese.

Years of attacks on the nests and habitat of the Charles River have followed.

Multiple goose killings have been greeted with highly communicative silence. An apparent goose killer graduated to rape and murder at the Destroyed Nesting Area of the Charles River White Geese right where he had apparently been brutally killing geese. He has since been sentenced to life in prison. The accomplices of the DCR / MDC on the Charles River, the Cambridge City Council, spent an extended period of time discussing the rape and murder. They just did not want to know where she had been raped and murdered. They had been part of the very communicative silence which apparently egged the killer on.

There are currently plans to destroy more than 449 to 660 trees on the Cambridge side from the Longfellow Bridge to Magazine Beach. The DCR / MDC brags of replacing mature trees with saplings. The DCR / MDC brags about how great the place will look in 40 years.

This is with public moneys.

Imminent is reconstruction of the BU Bridge. The DCR / MDC has been unable to starve the wildlife because of the activities of residents with greens provided by merchants.

Trouble is the wildlife, particularly the Charles River White Geese, has been confined in the Goose Meadow / Destroyed Nesting Area of the Charles River White Geese. This has been because the DCR / MDC and Cambridge denied access to the rest of the habitat.

This last remaining wild area is adjacent to and just east of the BU Bridge. The very much not-tender mercies of the MDC / DCR are highly predictable with regard to residents driven into this area by their misbehavior.

The DCR / MDC is aggressively destroying all living beings on the Charles River (when they are not poisoning the Charles River or walling the Charles River off against swimming which they claim to support). What do you think the DCR / MDC will do to this last remaining piece of wild habitat as part of work on the bridge which abuts the habitat?

Once again, thank you for your great words. I will watch closely to see if they are carried into practice.

2. Governor's Podcast, 1/26/07.

Transcript: Our First Few Weeks

January 26th, 2007

Governor Deval L. Patrick

This is Deval Patrick, Governor of Massachusetts. This is the first of a weekly internet Podcast that I intend to record as a way of talking directly with you about our work in state government on your behalf.

These first few weeks have been active ones. I made the difficult decision in the early hours of this administration to reverse a slate of funding cuts made by the outgoing governor. These were tough decisions and costly ones in some respects, but they also honor the commitments that the legislature and the outgoing government had made to people in need, people who needed food and shelter, valuable programs.

I made that decision in close consultation with our budget experts because I believe we will ultimately have the revenues necessary to meet those obligations. And I also warned our team and the public that we may not, given tough revenue forecasts, keep those commitments on a recurring basis. But for this fiscal year I believe that was the right thing to do.

We also launched our Commonwealth Corp, a new service program which will challenge 250 Massachusetts citizens in the first year to give their time, a year of service, full or part time, to help rebuild and revitalize our statewide community. Graduates from high school and college, people in mid-career, retirees, who will have a more formal way of re-engaging in community service.

The Lt. Governor and I met with local officials from the Massachusetts Municipal Association and began the critical work of rebuilding working relationships with leaders of cities and towns, people who are on the front line of delivering services to our people.

We joined the regional greenhouse gas initiative, to promote energy conservation and rate reduction for consumers, as well as job growth in an emerging industry around clean technology and clean energy, something I think is a big opening for us here in Massachusetts.

And I sent my first bill to the legislature. Working with Senator Fred Berry of Peabody and Representative Ted Speliotis of Danvers we filed a bill to provide immediate property tax relief to families whose homes were damaged or destroyed in the Danvers chemical plant explosion in November.

We also formed a development cabinet to coordinate the executive departments that are key to stimulating economic growth throughout the commonwealth because if we don’’t make a more successful economic environment, with broader opportunities for companies, for wealth creation and for you, then everything else we want to do is up for grabs.

Now, it has been an active first few weeks but it has not been without its bumps. There have been insignificant ones, like when I filled the executive suite with smoke when I first tried to light the fireplace in the governor’’s office. And more significant ones like dealing with the initial bids from healthcare providers in trying to implement the new health reform law. But we are committed to getting it all right. We’’ve gone back to the drawing board with those bidders to get those premiums lower, so that they are more affordable to people. Because we don’’t want hypothetical health care reform we want real and meaningful and lasting health care reform and its going to take work.

There are other challenges we’’re facing. We’’re in the midst of the budget season right now, developing a budget for the next fiscal year which begins July 1. The revenue picture is not as robust as we hoped it would be and there are other challenges we face. But I believe we can face those challenges, if we stick together, and we’’re candid with you about the challenges we face, and open to you in taking your best ideas and your best advice on how to meet those challenges. We’’re in this for the long run, you and me, we are about building lasting and meaningful change and improvement in all of our communities all across this commonwealth, and that’’ll take time.

Now I could respond like some governors have, with sound-bytes and gimmicks and photo-ops. I could tell you everything is fine, and it’’s going to be smooth sailing no matter what. But I came here promising you that we would face our challenges squarely, that we would bring the most meaningful reforms to the table, and that we would govern with our long term interests in mind, and that’’s exactly what I intend to do.

If you’’d like to send us your comments or feedback on this podcast or anything else, please visit the website, which is www.mass.gov/governor and click on ‘‘send us your ideas’’. Those are the words. And we’’ll be paying attention. Thanks for listening. Take care.

A Very Slight Thaw on the Charles River

Yesterday, January 27, at about 2 pm, I was on the Boston side of the Charles River.

It was still very cold although the high was supposed to be in the 30's. You can't prove that high temperature by me.

The Charles River White Geese were visible in unfrozen water next to the goose meadow. Further out, on the ice, were visible the Charles River White Ducks, Andrake and Daffney.

I drove into the parking lot at Magazine Beach. Construction equipment and fencing is still present on the rise / park area at the far end of the playing fields. The Charles River was frozen with varying degrees of thickness whereever I could see. Resting on top of the ice were a number of sea gulls and, separately, two Canadas. One of the Canadas was calling out in the manner of a bird who is trying to reconnect with his flock.

I walked over to the goose meadow, just on the other side of the BU Bridge. Most of the Charles River White Geese were present there. They came to greet me, perhaps half of them flapping their wings half flying. I have had winter days in which the gaggle has actually flown to great me. It scared them silly. The goose meadow is quite small for a number of large birds to be flying all at the same time.

While I was there, a number of Canadas and mallard ducks came out of the water and joined the whites. The two Charles River White Ducks remained on the ice toward the middle of the river.

They essentially recreated the group which had been getting fed by CRUWI last Monday when I went by.

When I returned to Magazine Beach no Canadas were visible.

Report from the Charles River as Bitter Cold Sets In

In Cambridge and on the Charles River we are undergoing a very cold snap.

Temperatures starting Thursday, January 25, have dropped to single digits with bitter winds. A warm up is anticipated today, Saturday, January 27.

On Thursday and Friday mornings the Charles River White Geese were in free water off the Goose Meadow in the cold morning. Much if not most of the rest of the Charles River was either frozen or had at least a thin coating of ice.

They are happily swimming in that freezing water for two reasons. One is that they love their water. The other is that, although they have their goose down jackets, the water is quite a bit warmer than the air.

When the water freezes, they stay in the goose meadow and sleep as much as possible, storing their energy. This is the way of free animals.

After a freeze, the White Geese will eagerly seek out thawed parts of the river for happy play.

Report from the Goose Meadow after first snow accumulation and several days of cold

1. The Morning of January 23.
2. The Afternoon of January 23.


1. The Morning of January 23.

This morning, I was walking over the BU Bridge. As always, I looked down on the Destroyed Nesting Area of the Charles River Geese which has become their year-around home, thanks to the heartlessly destructive Cambridge City Council and their friends in the state bureaucracy.

I have been concerned about several days of very cold weather, commonly single or double digits. In particular, I have been concerned about the Charles River White Ducks, Andrake and Daffney. They are living through their first winter in freedom. I have passed their favorite spot in the Charles a number of times without seeing them and, given the temperatures, I have been worried.

In the DNA was a representative of the Charles River Urban Wilds Initiative feeding a whole bunch of birds donated greens. It looked like Bill Naumann. Part of the gaggle was probably out hunting. It did not look like the full gaggle by any means.

There were more Canadas there than Whites. Smaller birds, mostly mallard ducks, but some pigeons, exceeded the combined population of geese.

I did not, however, see the Charles River White Ducks in the gathering. I walked a bit further and I saw them. They were off shore in water right next to the Destroyed Nesting Area. That water had not frozen yet and they really enjoy their water.

While I was watching, Bill, if it were Bill, came to the water’s edge and tossed them some greens in the water.

Thanks to the folks from CRUWI. They are all that has saved the animals of the Charles River from the ruthless destruction of the Cambridge City Council and their state bureaucrat friends.

It was quite cold today, definitely below 20, and CRUWI was doing their charitable deeds.

2. The Afternoon of January 23.

Coming back over the BU Bridge, it was striking to see how the various birds had separated themselves from the other breeds.

There were perhaps five pigeons roosting on the near wall of the Grand Junction Railroad Bridge.

First visible at surface level were the Canadas, sitting on the ice. Then were the ducks in the free water next to the shore, including Andrake and Daffney. Andrake and Daffney had barely moved from the morning. They remained a few feet from shore. The number of mallards with whom they were swimming could possibly have been 30. A large percentage of the mallards very likely could be one brood of 12 to 14 hatched last summer which did not seem like moving.

The Charles River White Geese were spread out in the flat part of the Goose Meadow. In their midst was one lonesome Canada. The Canada was very likely a bird whose mate was killed several years ago. He simply stayed here, the lone Canada.

Boston Globe Reports Part of Harvard Plans for the Charles River

1. Your editor, Bob La Trémouille, forwarded the following from Boston.com/
2. Your Editor's Comment.
3. Marilyn Wellons.
a. First Comment.
b. PS.
4. Other excellent Boston.com report, on the destruction and starvation at Magazine Beach, October 2004.

1. Your editor, Bob La Trémouille, forwarded the following from Boston.com/

********

The following appeared on Boston.com:

Headline: Harvard unveils its vision of campus across Charles Date: January 12, 2007

"Harvard University unveiled a sweeping plan yesterday to transform a 250-acre swath of Boston into an expanse of academic facilities, student housing, and a new public square with a plaza, retail stores, theaters, and an art museum." ____________________________________________________________

To see this recommendation, click on the link below or cut and paste it into a Web browser: http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/01/12/ harvard_unveils_its_vision_of_campus_across_charles?p1=email_to_a_friend
[Ed: I inserted a space in the URL for fear of mangling blog. Please delete the space inserted after the date to view the report. ("2007/01/12/" precedes the inserted space.)]

2. Your Editor's Comment.

Harvard provides an excellent map through to Cambridge Street, Allston (River Street, Cambridge). Harvard shows nothing and does not even comment on its ownership of the Mass. Pike off ramps East of Cambridge Street, or of the manipulations to move those off ramps to the Grand Junction Rail Bridge under the BU Bridge and smack dab through the most delicate habitat on the north side of the Charles.

Please see the Charles River White Geese website for an excellent photo by Della Huff in the Habitat tab putting it all in perspective.

3. Marilyn Wellons.

a. First Comment.

Harvard and the DCR will argue that the "increase" in Charles River parkland from covering Soldiers Field Road will compensate for the loss of parkland at the BU-Grand Junction bridges when they remove the Mass Pike exit from its current, Harvard-owned location and move it there.

b. PS.

Land isn't fungible, except of course that transferable development rights make it so.

Nevertheless, urban wilds on parkland land absolutely lost at the BU-Grand Junction rail bridges is gone.

4. Other excellent Boston.com report, on the destruction and starvation at Magazine Beach, October 2004.

boston.com/news/local/articles/2004/10/17/...?mode=PF provides their initial report on the destruction of Magazine Beach. Regrettably, the original, excellent photo is not included. This was of the gaggle looking for food with a massive earth remover in the background.

The report on Boston.com does include the quote of Corsi which originally appeared to the right of the gaggle / earth remover photo Corsi was denying any intent to harm the Charles River White Geese. Corsi has since elaborated that in his world starving the Charles River White Geese is not harming them.

Regrettably, the rest of us live in the real world.

"Historic Parkways" Policy

1. Letter to Department of Conservation and Recreation of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, copy to Governor.
2. Marilyn Wellons Response.

1. Letter to Department of Conservation and Recreation of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, copy to Governor.

The following was emailed at 7:50 am on January 12, 2007 by your editor, Bob La Trémouille. Patrick copy was completed at 8:02 am.

January 12, 2007

Victoria Bonarrigo
Department of Conservation and Recreation
251 Causeway Street, Suite 600
Boston, MA 02114

DRC.Policies@State.MA.US

The "Historic Parkways" Policy on which you are seeking comment fits the DCR's bankrupt environmental and animal habitat policies in the areas where you are using this fake sale pitch of a name.

I believe the comment deadline is today

You propose no environmental and no animal habitat protections.

This is completely in accord with an area where Corsi spent four years promising to do no harm to the most visible and highly popular animal residents, the Charles River White Geese. Then you proceeded to starve them by walling off their 25 year feeding grounds from the Charles River at the Hyatt Regency and Magazine Beach in September 2004. Your / Corsi's explanation was that starving them was not harming them.

You took a poll. Most people said do nothing to the Charles River. So you are spending millions on environmental and animal habitat destruction which makes no practical sense.

Your idea of an Historic Parkway is to strighten out Memorial Drive into a configuration which has no historic justification. Your idea of an historic parkway is to destroy 449 to 660 trees between the Longfellow Bridge and Magazine Beach including every cherry tree and to replace them with a smaller number of saplings.

Your idea of an Historic Parkway is to use your agents (Charles River Conservancy) to destroy animal protective vegetation on both sides of the Charles River to the ground while loudly lying (your commissioner as I recall) that you never cut vegetation below one foot, and as I recall your commissioner is FULLY aware of the practices of your agents, based on our exchange at the boathouse near Charles Circle a few months ago.

Your idea of an Historic Parkway is to brag about swimming in the Charles and then to destroy animal habitat and wetlands to install bizarre designer bushes at Magazine Beach which have no business on the Charles, which wall off Magazine Beach prevent feeding and preventing swimming. Your "historic" bushes with no historic reality, of course, promptly died.

Your idea of an Historic Parkway is to truck away (soon to come) all the dirt at Magazine Beach to replace it with dirt, poisons, and HISTORIC sprinklers. The HISTORIC sprinklers replace the wetlands which should not have been destroyed.

Starving the local animals in your world is not harming them.

Your idea of Historic Parkways is installing poisons at Ebersol Fields and Magazine Beach which have no historic relevance. Your idea of historic parkways is the excess of poisons at Ebersol Fields which resulted in the Charles River being killed between the dam and the harbor THE DAY AFTER YOU implanted these poisons with prohibitions against use near water.

Your idea of an Historic Parkway is your practice for the last four years of poisoning every goose egg you can get away with for the first ten miles of the Charles River. Your sick definition of histroy has no animals in it on the Charles River. Senator Kennedy assisted your bizarre attack on nature. This combined with lies claiming to be pro-environment show where you are coming from.

Sanctifying 19th environmental destruction attitudes says everything about a truly reprehensible entity, the Department of Conservation and Recreation destroying the Charles River with help from the City of Cambridge, the Charles River Conservancy, and oh so many others who make money out of your depravity.

Robert J. La Tremouille

cc: Governor Patrick

2. Marilyn Wellons Response.

Thank you for doing this.

Thank you for responding.

Charles River White Goose website up.

Bob La Trémouille reports:

Congratulatins to Elizabeth and Marilyn.

The website is up again, with a different look. I am not in the middle of the decision process as to what they are putting together, but this does look quite nice, realizing that the updating process is ongoing.

DCR Policy Under Review Reappears

http://www.mass.gov/dcr/documents/parkwayspolicy.pdf

It is there again.

DCR Policy Under "Review" Disappears

Bob La Trémouille Reports:

The Department of Conservation and Recreation was created by combining the old and striking bad Metropolitan District Commission with its counterpart for the rest of the state.

As Governor Mitt Romney leaves Massachusetts in search of a promotion, the creation of this department has been touted as one of Romney's big victories.

Trouble is that half of the group had a good reputation and half had a terrible reputation. The MDC's Planning Department was flatly and simply horrible if you are concerned about the environment or about the rapidly diminishing stock of free animals in our world.

That Planning Department is the brains (?) of the DCR. The DCR is terrible.

A few days ago, the DCR announced a Policy on Historic Parkways which it was putting up for comment. Comments were required by January 12.

One very major problem with the policy is that it does not seem to exist on the Internet any more.

The URL was: http://www.mass.gov/dcr/documents/parkwayspolicy.pdf. I got into it yesterday or the day before and printed out the proposal. I just went after it again and got a very clear equivalent of "Does not compute."

The reality is that the DCR and its replacement does a lot of lying. They do very the types from Flat out Lying to Euphemisms which are the Equivalent of a Lie to a whole bunch of other characteristics, and this nonsense fit the character.

The various outrages on Memorial Drive are excellent examples of the belligerent lying of these folks.

They spent four years denying any intent to harm the Charles River White Geese. In September 2004, they / Cambridge simultaneously walled off the entire 25 years established food of the Charles River White Geese, both the grass across from the Hyatt Hotel and the grass at Magazine Beach. Corsi, the key guy, explained in a public meeting that starving them was not harming them.

The work at Magazine Beach is lie after lie after lie.

First of all the starvation factor.

Secondly, the started the project with a show and tell on swimming on the Charles River. Got some excellent photos as a result.

But they are preventing swimming in the Charles River with the project. They have replaced wetlands and animal habitat with a bizarre wall of designer bushes which block access to the Charles from Magazine Beach.

Thirdly, the designer bushes were described with the flat out lie of "native vegetation." The bushes were not fit to live on the Charles River and did an awful lot of dying.

You name a euphemism and it is almost certain the MDC will use it with secret definitions that it does not tell anybody about.

We have a new governor. It would say a lot if a whole bunch of people got fired who are responsible for this continuing outrage on the Charles River, along with killing the various bizarre projects, and thus fitting the majority of people in the poll they took who said that nothing needs to be done to improve the Charles River.

It is highly unlikely that decency will prevail on the Charles River.

I see a lot of people in the middle of the destruction who sure look like Patrick people.

A suggestion for Governor Deval Patrick

Governor Deval Patrick's transition team is asking for ideas for the new administration. This is what I submitted today:

Dear Governor Patrick

Please stop the DCR's destruction of urban wilds on the Charles River. These are places nature’s reclaimed after the damming and landfill of the estuary a hundred years ago. Wildlife has retreated to them as the city continues to crowd in on the river and the DCR proceeds with development. They’re wonderful refuges for people, too, where we take our children to see the natural world close up. And they're right in the middle of the city.

The DCR is now working with Cambridge to destroy the beautiful fields at Magazine Beach and replace them with landfill, sod, an irrigation system, fences, and lots of chemicals. (Grace Ross has publicly opposed the poisons being placed in Magazine Beach as part of that project.)

The DCR maintains the land subject to flooding at Magazine Beach—which it admits is ordinarily rich wildife habitat—is so altered by human activity that it isn’t habitat now. Anyone can see that’s false, that the DCR-Cambridge project itself will destroy this irreplaceable Commonwealth resource.

The DCR and Cambridge have already destroyed the urban wild in Cambridge where birds, including red-tailed hawks, mallard ducks, and the Charles River White Geese nested. The waterfowl have returned but the DCR and Cambridge will drive them out again when they begin work on the BU Bridge. And in the meantime the project at Magazine Beach has been starving the White Geese since 2004.

Please halt the state’s support of this project. Runoff from its 7 acres of chemically-treated sod will create algae blooms in the Charles like the one we saw last August off 6 similarly treated acres at Lederman Field. It will expose humans as well as wildlife to poisonous chemicals at Magazine Beach, where anyone can now enjoy the nice mix of activities safely.

Thank you, and congratulations on your election and inauguration.

Marilyn Wellons

Website "Under construction" ?

Bob La Trémouille reports:

Marilyn has been working on updating our website for quite awhile.

Working with Elizabeth Snow, they tell me that they are in the process of implementing their goals and I certainly have seen confirmations of the appropriate nature.

What I just saw on the website, Friends of the White Geese / Charles River White Geese, gives the impression it is for sale. I think this is a mistake. There is a message there saying to replace the message with your own. That could be a for sale or a notice to us that we are between things and we should put in something. I guess the latter is more likely.

In any case, apologies and I anticipate things will be improved very rapidly.

Thank you for your patience.

Magazine Beach on the New Year

Bob La Trémouille reports:

Once again, no sign whatsoever of the White Geese. They really have been scared off.

The Bumpy Memorial Goose Pond saw a thin layer of ice which was melting in what is now heavy rain.

There were a number of Canadas in the river just off Magazine Beach along with Andrake and Daffney, the Charles River White Ducks. They came quite close to the parking lot and the Goose Pond without coming ashore. They may be spooked by the so much destruction of their protective vegetation by the sicko Charles River Conservancy working as agents for the state bureacrats.